I've been around Beretta.net for a while now, and was a very active member on Bstuff back when it was still in operation. Of all the time and years I have been into these cars, I have never made a member's ride page for my car.

Before I start to get into the '94 that I currently own and have since 2008, I think it's only fair to show what I started with back in 2005. 1989 base, 2.8 automatic. I bought this car for $150, cleaned her up, repainted her, and sold it two years later for $2500. I never should have sold this car either. No rocker rust, no spring tower rust. The car never had the cowl leak issue either. Hell, the car looked like brand new underneath and had about 170k on it. Yes, I know, sweet fart cannons on it too, huh?

The '89 first purchased...

After some spray bombing and a little cleaning!

Then it went to flat black before I threw a cheapy Maaco job on it, then it went up for sale eventually.

Interior and engine bay as well...

Last edited by whiteretta on Sat Aug 05, 2017 3:28 pm, edited 1 time in total.

First purchased, May 2008. 1994 Beretta base, 3100 with a 4T60E. Highly optioned base with tach, power trunk release and Apache brand dealership spoiler. I paid $700, the asking price was $800 firm but my dad and I helped him change the water pump on it when we showed up to look at it so he took $100 off the price of the car.

The downsides were the infamous cowl leak, bad shocks and struts, bad brakes, no radio, peeling paint (found that out first time I washed it) and the original wipers from '94 were still on the car. That was a fun ride home in the rain on the interstate. The car probably wasn't worth what I paid for it then, but I wanted another Beretta. I really missed my old '89 and had to get back into another.

First on the list was to make it look presentable. A good wash and vacuum, removed the bow tie off of the grille, "leather" seat covers, a CD player and some wheel covers. That was also accompanied by replacing the sway bar links with some Energy Suspension units, painted some interior trim pieces bronze, adding a short intake and some aftermarket fog lights. Shortly afterwards I also had a 2 1/4" I/O turbo muffler installed, that paired with the intake was a good combo for it being a daily driver while not making it sound like every other V6 on the road.

Shortly afterwards a friend that owed me money came across some wheels and tires for his car for cheap, found out they wouldn't fit, and sold me the full set for $150. These were neat wheels, but the tires were too small especially for the stock FE1 suspension. This was also later accompanied with painting the fillers white, the trim pieces on the sides were removed (improperly, no heat gun), and an aftermarket Magnaflow style eBay muffler with full 2.5" exhaust was installed, because I wanted to make some more noise!

Last edited by whiteretta on Sun Aug 06, 2017 12:38 pm, edited 5 times in total.

2009 was a big year for the car, this is when the car really started to make a transformation. Within two months I not only became single, but also got a promotion with a pay raise at work. I'm sure you can imagine where most that money went.

8.2mm Taylor Thundervolt wires and a strut brace!

Next up? Indy ground effects! She also got treated to a Z grille, a fuel door, and a Flowmaster Super 44 with a Hooker dual resonated tip!

Then it was time to eliminate the wheel gap with some Canuck lowering springs. I also measured out a set of Energy Suspension rear coil spring insulators, but lost the part number I used. Oh yeah, that is a Solarwing that you see!

Got a little bit of glass etching done as well...

Just before fall I ordered the new wheels, Enkei EV5's in bronze with 215/45/17 Sumitomo's. I also went back to black fillers and tinted the inserts in the taillamps. Headlight covers were also installed, along with a new emblem for the rear bumper to go along with the time period of the ground effects. I also picked up drilled and slotted rotors and some clear side markers.

I also purchased LTZ seats and installed a Grant steering wheel, along with shift handle out of a Cutlass Supreme, with a matching parking brake handle out of a Cavalier.

I also pulled some engine bay braces off of an '88 Cutlass Ciera we parted ways with and painted all of the braces red. I also got a nice cover for the front of the engine bay and some MSD coils.

Last edited by whiteretta on Sun Aug 06, 2017 12:27 pm, edited 7 times in total.

Bored .040 over, and my Comp Cams street cam with .480 lift. Can't forget the refinished heads with yellow valve springs to handle the new camshaft. I also picked up a solid torque strut mount and an FFP underdrive pulley. The pulley is getting removed over the winter for a factory pulley however.

I also upgraded from the factory throttle body to the TCE 65mm unit.

Time to pull the 3100! I also discovered why my check engine would come on occasionally... Just a slight EGR blockage.

She runs on alcohol, and she looks sexy up in there!

Then I found out that a lot of alcohol was involved... During the engine build. I did get a good enough shot to get into the calendar though, haha.

A little interior shot with a nice new dash cover too, some kid poked a hole in my dash bubble while the engine was being swapped. I also added a good temp gauge to keep a closer eye on the coolant temp.

And this is not how you want to end a very expensive year... Goodbye fresh bottom end.

I did get my valve covers looking better with some black metallic and a Mobil1 oil cap, eased my pain a little, lol.

Last edited by whiteretta on Sat Sep 02, 2017 2:30 pm, edited 5 times in total.

2011 was a rough year. Let's just say if you want something done right, do it yourself.

Round 1, the old oil pump gear drive took out the bottom end when the teeth sheared off, as I showed in the last post. You'd think the guy that built the engine would have replaced it when we upgraded the camshaft, but... you know. Round 2, rocker arm bolts were never torqued, rockers came loose on the cylinder heads and stripped out the bolt holes.

This led to a bottom end rebuild which I let him do as he said he would for free. The heads also had to be replaced so I went ahead and upgraded to a set of PaceSetter's. The passenger side halfshaft was also torn when he was pulling the engine to redo the bottom end, but he wouldn't admit to it so that had to be taken care of aswell. I also installed an Anchor 2803SR solid rubber motor mount while it was off, but it's not pictured.

Back and running again, for another photo shoot! I do miss those headlights covers at times...

All those repairs made me a bit depressed, so I had to blow some cash on some toys...

Brighter yellow high beam bulbs, rear shock tower brace and billet HVAC knobs! I also picked up a Magnaflow so I could make a little more noise...

Last edited by whiteretta on Sat Sep 02, 2017 11:39 am, edited 3 times in total.

2013 was the first good solid year for the car! Well, after more repairs from the previously mentioned alcoholic mechanic. Oil pan gasket was torn, and bits and pieces of gasket sealer were starting to plug up the oil pump screen.

Oil catch can, I don't like the oil making it into the intake and this was an inexpensive fix that was easy to install. I also repainted my intake tube Beige Metallic, same color as my Buick.

I also made the interior a little fancier, made my own tilt lever and put a Porsche steering wheel emblem on it. I can't afford one, so...

New NOS center console lid with the best packaging job I have ever seen, and yet another exhaust upgrade to a Hooker AeroChamber!

Although I like the car spoilerless, I decided it was time to put it back on the car. I had to get a couple pics with a buddy's turbo Civic too, lol.

It took about three days, but the girlfriend and I sanded my hood down to bare metal and cleared it. It'll blind you at the right angle with the sun out! I also painted the engine bay satin black with VHT roll bar paint, the chipped and scratched white had seen much better days.

I also picked up a hollow rear bar off of Tyler and some euro headlights. These are even the models with the 194's as running lights!

Last edited by whiteretta on Sat Jan 13, 2018 4:33 pm, edited 11 times in total.

Back to the grind! This year has been a fun year with the car. Upgraded my instrument cluster to a chrome and red Speedhut setup and a black and red HVAC setup. Also installed? Flush mount radio kit! Thanks to Mr. Weinstock I also got a new hood for the instrument cluster. Mine only had two screw holes left, they all broke over time...

I also installed the hollow rear sway bar, did "The Big 3," installed an adjustable vacuum modulator on the transmission, and upgraded to a "mini starter" when my old one went out! I got new fillers from Robert Simone too, and my lord are they beautiful...

Sidney, Ohio Pre-BFest meet! Euro headlights also installed!

Rolling shot! I finally got a Beretta.net decal too, represent!

I sanded all the clear coat off my bare hood and installed some hood vents this summer also, but I plan on upgrading the hood next year again properly. I also just picked up some Z51 front and rear sway bars that I'll be installing in spring, no more FE1 suspension for me! I just put KYB Gas-A-Just's on the rear to replace the Gabriel Ultra's that were on the car, the fronts are next. The subframes are being replaced over the winter, hence doing sway bars, struts, etc...

Last edited by whiteretta on Sat Jan 13, 2018 4:59 pm, edited 5 times in total.

I was surprised how well the grey complimented the red, I've gotten a lot of compliments on the seats in the car.

Surprisingly, that's maybe 1/4 of my photos of the car... I did my best to try and condense it as much as possible, and I still left things out! I've lost some photos too, ones I really wanted to post.

Oh, and I got my subframes off tonight. Driver's side is toast. I used the FE1 front sway bar for size comparisons to the 32mm Z51 front and 22mm rear bar while it's down and off the car.

Last edited by whiteretta on Sat Sep 30, 2017 12:44 pm, edited 1 time in total.

In spring it'll be getting an aftermarket hood, I'm still not 100% happy with how it turned out. It never really turned out the way I wanted it too sadly.

As for the sway bars, I honestly wasn't sure what to call the front one. I kept researching, but the information was a bit mixed up and I know the bar came off the same car as the Z51 bar, lol. In an old post, a regular on the forum called it a Z51 bar and they were never corrected, so I figured it was correct. Good to know though. Can't wait to install them, but they need paint and I'm waiting on my new subframes.